With more than 80 years of history under its belt, it's becoming much easier to pinpoint exactly the type of movies that'll win favour at the Oscars. Big-scale period epics, war films and musicals always tend to find favour with Academy voters, while on the acting front playing a President or a known historical figure is a sure-fire way to get attention.

But what about the movies that never get a look in? There are certain types of films - no matter how successful or how beloved by audiences - that simply never win big at the Oscars. Perhaps it's down to a lack of campaign push from the studio, the perception that they're not "Oscar movies", or Academy snobbery? Digital Spy takes a look at the films that are perennially ignored in the Best Picture race below...

Superhero movies

The omission of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight from the Best Picture lineup in 2009 raised a few eyebrows in Hollywood, and was even cited as one of the factors that prompted the expansion of the category to a maximum of 10. Nolan was rewarded with a Best Picture nomination for Inception two years later thanks to this change-up, but in the slew of superhero movies since none have troubled the Oscars outside of the technical or VFX categories.

Watchmen - perhaps the prestige superhero graphic novel - might've had a shot if original director Paul Greengrass hadn't handed the movie over to Zack Snyder. The daddy of the genre, Christopher Reeve's Superman, also failed to make much of an impression back in 1979.

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Young Adult blockbusters

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy took a bucketload of Oscars back to New Zealand in 2004, but there was no such luck for Harry Potter when the boy wizard's film series came to a close a few years back. Despite increasing admiration from critics as the series progressed and plenty of audience love, Deathly Hallows - Part 2 came out of awards season empty handed. It couldn't even get any traction at the BAFTAs, instead getting the consolation prize of 'Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema'.

Currently it seems like Harry Potter's Oscar woes are being repeated with The Hunger Games. Both of Katniss Everdeen's big screen outings so far have been welcomed with open arms, but you can put money on both Mockingjay movies finding themselves out in the cold.

The likes of Inception and District 9 have made the cut in the past, but some films are perhaps perceived as being too juvenile.

Bond

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With over 50 years of film history, it's surprising that James Bond hasn't figured more prominently at the Oscars, scoring only four wins, the most recent of which was for Adele's 'Skyfall' theme. The series has been rejuvenated during Daniel Craig's tenure, and there was a big push for Skyfall to mark 007's big anniversary with Oscar glory, but alas, it wasn't to be. Even Judi Dench (an Oscar-winner for a tiny role in Shakespeare in Love) didn't have any luck with her M swansong.

There is of course a category for Best Animated Film, but you can't help but feel that this holds back some of the really great animated movies from making it into the Beat Picture lineup. The perfect example is this year's Frozen - a bona fide Disney classic with a soundtrack that's turned it into a cultural phenomenon, surely this deserves more than the obligatory Animated gong?

Looking back further, the likes of The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pixar classics Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Wall-E have all been ignored. However, there have been success stories in the past: both Up and Toy Story 3 nabbed Best Picture nominations, but had to settle for victories in the Animated Film category.

Films with a comedic edge often bag themselves Best Picture nominations, but they always seem to fall short when it comes to the crunch - the laundry list of the ignored nominees includes Little Miss Sunshine, Juno and The Full Monty. However, you can never rule out a comedy entirely. Annie Hall, Driving Miss Daisy, Shakespeare in Love and The Artist were all Best Picture winners, but that's four cases across five decades.

What is a sure thing is an out-and-out comedy never taking home the top prize. Bridesmaids won an Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress nod for Melissa McCarthy back in 2012, but never really looked like winning either.

Horror

Like comedy, the horror genre has always found it tough to get taken seriously when it comes to awards season. The Exorcist set a precedent in 1973 with a Best Picture nomination, but eventually lost out to The Sting. Almost 20 years later, however, The Silence of the Lambs swept to victory with five Oscar wins, including Best Picture and Director.

There has not been a case like Lambs before or since, but that might be down to the fact that the horror genre has hit the skids in recent years as studios milk every last drop out of the tired found footage format. There's still spine-tingling promise being shown outside of Hollywood, though, with Pan's Labyrinth winning three Oscars in 2007. Also, how did the brilliant The Orphanage miss out completely in 2008?

Which overlooked movie genre would you like to see The Academy reward? Leave your comments below!